Monterey, Calif., is where Mike Richardson should have been this past
weekend, roaring around infamous Laguna Seca. An eager backmarker, however,
ruined his trip south two weekends ago. In the third stop of the 2003
Barber Dodge Pro Series, the Milwaukee Mile, Richardson only completed
two laps before his day, and all of June, came to a crashing end. An
overanxious driver clipped the rear of Richardson's blue and silver
Dodge and spun the Kelowna resident. The offending driver missed the
sliding Richardson, but the racer two spots behind Richardson didn't
and smashed into him. "I was basically going sideways down the
track," said Richardson, whose Dodge suffered severe suspension
damage. "It's aggravating when a racer isn't patient when they
should be. He got underneath me, which put me sideways . . . and the
guy behind him just collected into me. "And that was that for the
race." Disgusted at his luck, Richardson made a beeline for the
pits, hopped in his rental car and drove to the hotel, where he spent
a frustrating night replaying the race in his mind. Frustrating because
Richardson qualified im the middle of the pack at 12th. "It was
tough to qualify, as we had only two laps," said Richardson, who
plans on also missing the June 22 race in Portland. "And I was
one of the first ones out, and it was a cold day. You could see your
breath. Then as the day went on, it warmed up and track times improved.
"Still, I had a decent qualifying time which meant I wasn't going
to be a backrunner like I was in my first year last season. I moved
up to the middle of the pack and now a podium finish isn't out of the
question. "After this mishap, I'm going to take some time off to
regroup." After Portland, Barber Dodge visits Cleveland (July 5),
Toronto (July 13), Vancouver (July 27), Mid-Ohio (Aug. 9) and, to close
out its 10-race season, Montreal (Aug. 24).

As for racing on an oval and reaching average speeds of 130 miles an
hour, Richardson said he prefers road courses. "(Ovals) are sort
of boring, in a way," said Richardson. "At Milwaukee, there
are only two corners to learn. Once you master those, you got it made.
And then you keep going around and around and around. I was sort of
getting dizzy after getting out of my car. "There's definitely
a lot of repetition and the car's momentum keeps building, leading to
faster and faster times. It was good, but I wouldn't want to do it all
the time." At Laguna Seca, Dan Di Leo of Markham, Ont., took the
checkered flag in the Grand Prix of Monterey. Di Leo finished 1.533
seconds ahead of polesitter Memo Rojas of Mexico City in Sunday's 41-minute
timed race on the 2.238-mile circuit. David Martinez, of Mexico, finished
third. Di Leo won $13,000 US while Rojas and Martinez respectively pocketed
$8,750 and $6,500. Other notable results from the 19-car field included
Al Unser's sixth-place finish, up six spots from his 12th-place starting
position, and fellow Canadian Chris Green of Beaconsfield, Que., in
10th.